clarkspicks.com

Sarah Vaughan was born in 1924 and grew up in Newark New Jersey, where she attended America’s first magnet school, Arts High School, which is still in operation. While a student she played piano and sang in nightclubs, illegally because of her age, until she dropped out in her junior ear to pursue music full time. When she was eighteen Vaughan entered and won Amateur Night contest at the Apollo Theater in New York, the same contest that had been won by, and launched the career of Ella Fitzgerald. Part of her prize, in addition to $10, was the chance to pen for Ella at the Apollo. Vaughan was hired by Earl Hines to sing with his big band after her first professional appearance at the Apollo. Sarah Vaughn’s singing career lasted for almost fifty years.

This clip is from some time in the 1950s. Cherokee was a favorite among jazz instrumentalist and would often be played at late night “cutting” sessions, when musicians would compete with each other to play improvisational passages. Here Vaughan sings the song fairly straight, simply bending a few notes and playing with the time. I imagine her looking at a director in the back of the studio who is trying to bring her song to and end in time for a commercial.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS